


For the Tribe

by morey971



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, Exhibitionism, Genocide, M/M, Mass Murder, Multi, Other, Sentinel Senses, Sentinel/Guide, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, Very disturbed individuals that can rationalize mass murder/genocide as "Ok", Weird Sexual Situations, ruthlessness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 05:12:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11593629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morey971/pseuds/morey971
Summary: Due to the restrictions placed on Guides in Japan, Alpha Guide Light Yagami spent most of his high school career hiding his Guide abilities from everyone around him, including his family. Aiming to protect the "tribe" by becoming a police detective like his father, Light never planned on revealing his abilities until after everyone else recognized his potential. All that changed after he used the Death Note to kill those men. Light finally found a way to protect everyone in the world. What guide wouldn't use it?Excerpt:Light Yagami staggered through the dark alley, hurrying away from the truck accident, near blind with panic and horror."I'm a Guide.""I'm an Alpha Guide and I killed two people!""I'm supposed to protect the tribe, not kill them!""No... wait... those men- those criminals- they hurt others- preyed on others- preyed on my tribe!!.""Noir... my tribe, they're hurting, they're in pain. We need to protect them, to weed out the bad so that the good will no longer suffer. Someone's got to do it, why not me?""Even if it means sacrificing my mind, soul, and chance for a bond, it's worth it... The tribe must be protected."





	1. The Death Note

**Author's Note:**

> I started this work in July of 2016 for a challenge on RoughTrade.org, comment for info. Essentially the story is a fusion between "The Sentinel" and "Death Note". For those of you who don't know what fandom "The Sentinel" is, I highly recommend you go watch the TV series. It's got a decent plot line, includes advanced senses, and the fandom for it is off the charts. This fandom can literally be fused with any other fandom in existence. If you don't believe me, comment and I'll explain more. 
> 
> Currently, this is a WIP that has been on hiatus for a while since I was having trouble writing the next scene in the story and figuring out how I want this to end (good/bad/seriously ugly/etc). Here's what I've gotten written so far. It's un-beta'd so any typos are completely my fault.

Light Yagami staggered through the dark alley, hurrying away from the truck accident, near blind with panic and horror. 

 _"I killed them both. I-- I-- really--I killed two men,"_ he sagged against the alley wall, eyes locked to the ground in horror. _"Those were human lives---they won't be overlooked,"_  his knees felt like buckling.  _"Who am I to pass judgment on others?"_

A piercing cry rang through the alley. Light looked up. His raven spirit guide's silhouette shown an inky black against the lightning filled storm.

 _"I'm a Guide,"_ dread filled his heart.  _"I'm an_ **_Alpha Guide_ ** _and I_ **_killed_ ** _two people!"_ For the first time in years his shields buckled,  _"I'm supposed to protect the tribe, not kill them!"_  

Anger, pain, fear, and despair from all around the city leaked through his compromised mental walls.  _"No... wait... those men-- those criminals-- they hurt others--- preyed on others--- preyed on_ **_my tribe_ ** _!!."_

Bolstered by the negative emotions flooding his system, Light straightened his spine. The raven's piercing cry rang out as it hovered in front of the young, un-bonded, Alpha Guide.

The honor student drew in a labored breath, eyes alight with renewed passion. "Noir... my tribe, they're hurting, they're in pain. We need to protect them, to weed out the bad so that the good will no longer suffer. Someone's got to do it, why not me?" He held his arm out to provide a perch. "Even if it means sacrificing my mind, soul, and chance for a bond, it's worth it... The tribe  _must be protected_." 

The abnormally large raven, Noir, considered his charge for a few more movements, wings beating steadily. He clacked his beak sharply and let out another loud shriek before landing on the outstretched arm. The raven began to preen his feathers, ignoring his guide's surprised look. 

Slowly, Light's expression turned from surprised to determined. Looking to his life partner, Light began moving to the end of the alley, "Come on Noir, let's go protect  _our_   _tribe_ ," Noir launched himself into the stormy sky as lightning and thunder painted the sky. There was work to be done.

For the next five days, Light made every effort to appear normal to everyone around him. To his teachers, he upheld his 1st in the Nation, perfect student routine while at home, he continued to "study" in his bedroom on the nights he didn't have Cram School. With mundanes as parents, it any harder to add the Death Note to the list of secrets he kept from his family, including but not limited to his status as an Alpha Guide.

Having come online during his Freshman year of High School, he'd slowly used his abilities and unnaturally good control to manipulate his image from displaying the typical traits of a guide. Considering that Japan held some traditional and limiting views on Guides should and should not do, it'd be better for him in the long run to be considered a mundane. Well, that was before the Death Note.

Instinctively, Light knew that many of the Sentinels and Guides of the world would rebel against the actions he was undertaking. In fact, most of them would declare him dormant or evil for killing those they were supposed to protect. Several times over the week, he'd contemplated straying from the course set before him. It was only the fact that Noir hadn't left his side since the alleyway that kept him from stopping at the world's major criminals. He was taking their lives and damning himself to remove the threats they presented to the tribe's, to the world's safety. 

That didn't keep him from nearly jumping out of his skin when Ryuk, a Shinigami Death God, showed up in his bedroom on his fifth night of owning the Death Note. Noir had landed on the desk and squawked repeatedly at the larger spirit, seeming to scold the death god for scaring his human. If the situation wasn't more serious, Light probably would have laughed at the semi-taken aback expression on Ryuk's face. 

Quickly the shinigami's patience with he other spirit's vocal barrage grew thin. "Guardian," he rasped in exasperation, "I'm not here to take the life of your  _precious_  charge, so  _put a sock in it_." 

Light blinked. A monstrous looking spirit being, that could apparently  _kill_ him, just told his Raven Spirit Guide to shut up. He groaned internally. Why did ridiculously impossible things always have to happen to him? Having given into self pity for long enough, he turned his attention back to the conversation that seemed be degenerating into a full blown fight.

 _"_ Yes, I understand that he's protected by the accords, but he still--"

Squawk.

"He used the Death Note. You know that puts him under our per-view..." 

Angry screech. 

"I don't care if he's part of the first Palladin pair in over a millennia..."

Light covered his ears as Noir shrieked even louder.

"Well then you shouldn't have let him use the Death Note!"

Squawk.

"Bull shit! You just wanted to do some easy house cleaning... at our expense!" 

The raven ignored the shinigami, preferring to preen instead. 

"I'll still have to take him eventually, you know the rules."

Squawk.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll wait. No need to get both of our bosses in a tizzy."

A distinctly more agreeable cry filled the bedroom.

"Still though, letting him use a Death Note? Isn't that kinda dark, even for a Paladin?"

The raven hopped down to Light's shoulder and began to preen his charge's hair. Normally, Light hated it when Noir would preen his hair with his beak, but this time he allowed the gesture. The reassurance that came with interacting with the spiritual representation of his soul soothed his worries slightly. Well, at least until Ryuk turned his attention away from the raven and back to the reason for his visit in the first place.

Gathering his poise, Light stood up, holding his head high. "I've been waiting for you. Though I must admit, I expected you to take my soul, not bargain with my Spirit Guide."

The Shinigami's grin widened, showing jagged pointy teeth. "Is that so? How interesting....?" 

Knock. Knock. "Light?"

Light's eyes widened at the sound of his mother's voice, but the Shinigami just chuckled, "Go ahead. It'll be alright."

Slowly Light pulled the door open, spilling the light from the hallway throughout his darkened room. His mother fussed about the lack of light ruining his eyesight before returning downstairs, leaving behind a basket of apples.

"That notebook you were writing in? It used to belong to me..." The monstrous death god wandered over towards the apples, "...but now that it's in the human world, it acts as a link between Light, the human, and Ryuk, the Shinigami. Right now, you're the only one that can see and hear me," Ryuk sighed happily as the flavor of the apples hit his tongue. 

"So then why did you choose me? What made me different from everyone else on the planet?" Light ducked as Noir took off from his shoulder violently, purposefully clipping Light in the head with his wings. "Noir!" Light complained, rubbing the spot gingerly. "What was that for?"

Ryuk laughed at the raven's antics. "Choose you? You didn't seriously believe you were  _chosen_  did you? Don't be so vain."

"Well, why did you drop the notebook then because there's no way in Hell this was an accident?" Light demanded as Noir settled back down on the desk.

"I did it because I was bored." Ryuk shrugged. "Truth is most shinigami spend their days gambling or napping the time away. If you take the time to write names in your Death Note, the others just laugh at you for working so hard. Writing the names of other shinigami would be pointless because they wouldn't die, and since we live in the Shinigami Realm it brings us no amusement to kill those in the Human World either. So I figured I'd have more fun if I came down here myself." Reaching down, Ryuk picked the Death Note off the desk and flipped through it. "Anyways, I'm surprised at how many names you've written. Doubly so because you've been chose by a Guardian." 

"Guardian?" Light had always wanted to learn more about the spirit that guided him. 

Ryuk ignored his question. "But why did you only write the cause of death for the guy who got hit by that truck?"

"If you don't write down the cause of death, the victim dies of a heart attack, which is probably the best thing about the Death Note." Light replied, looking out the window. "You see, I've already exhausted the list of the world's major criminals, and eventually I'm going to get rid of them all." Light glanced back at the shinigami. "It's only a matter of time before people figure out that these criminals are being eliminated by someone. I want the world to know that there's someone out there watching out for everyone, protecting the innocent from the criminals that plague our society... our tribe."

Ryuk's eyes widened before he burst out into a full blown belly laugh. Turning back to the raven still perched on the desk, Ryuk grinned even wider. "So that's why you let him use the Death Note. He's still protecting his tribe even though his methods are a little more severe than most, though that's to be expected of a Paladin," he laughed again.  _"It's just as I thought before..."_

_"...humans are so interesting."_


	2. The World's Greatest Detective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly, a large Gothic 'L' covered the TV monitor. "...I had to test this just in case, but I-I never thought it'd actually happen," the robotic voice distortion did nothing to hid the speaker's disbelief. "Kira, it seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it.”  
> “Listen to me, Kira. If you did indeed kill Lind. L. Tailor, the man who you just saw die on television, I should tell you he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today. That was not me. The police arrested him in absolute secrecy. It appears that even you do not have access to information about these types of criminals."  
> "But I assure you, L is real. I do exist. Now try to kill me!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter. Unbeta'd. Mistakes are my own.

The ICPO Conference room buzzed angrily as the delegates discussed the deaths around the world.

"....investigating a series of heart attacks is pointless. I don't see what else we can learn."

"Absolutely, if these people had been shot or stabbed at least we'd have something to go on..."

"If that's the case then it looks like we'll have no choice but to bring in L..."

The room went silent. L was the World's Greatest Detective.

"But I've heard this L is extremely arrogant. I understand that he'll only take on cases that are personally interesting to him."

"That's exactly right, besides we don't even know how to contact him."

"L is already on the move." Footsteps echoed through the hall from a man dressed all in black, the only person who's ever been able to contact L. "Gentlemen, L has already begun his investigation into these incidents. Please be silent. L would now like to address the delegates." The man flipped up a computer screen, and a large Gothic letter 'L' showed up on the big screen.

The voice was a robotic mix meant to keep the owner's voice hidden. "Greetings to all of you at the ICPO. I am L."

"The difficulty of this case lies in it's unprecedented scope, and make no mistake, we are witnessing an atrocious act of mass murder. This case cannot be solved without the full cooperation of the ICPO, that is all of the police organizations that you represent around the world. "

"Also, I require addition cooperation from Japan's National Police Agency. Whether the guilty party is an individual or a group, there is a strong possibility that they are Japanese. And even if they are not, we can be sure they are hiding in Japan."

"Why Japan you ask? I think I can provide you with proof when I directly confront the culprit. At any rate, I would like to set up the investigation headquarters in Japan."

Japan's Chief of Police rubbed the bridge of his nose. It had to be his country that L was singling out. "What about Sentinels and Guides? Have you ruled out the S&G Community for participating in these crimes?" The chief asked, hoping that he would be able to exclude many from the hunt that was about to begin.

"Typical Sentinels and Guides have roughly a 10% chance of being Kira. Dormant Sentinels and Guides however are exceedingly more likely, with a possible motivation being to protect the tribe through elimination of those that hurt the members of said tribe. However, I've never heard of or encounter a Sentinel or Guide powerful enough to claim the whole world as his tribe. Nothing has been decided for now."

The next day, Japan's Chief of Police watched with the rest of the officers as L began his broadcast. _"L, we've followed every single one of your orders. Now it's time for you to prove what you said to the ICPO."_

Similarly, Light, known as Kira by some, also watched the worldwide live broadcast by Interpol's ICPO with growing curiosity. His killings had been gaining interest, and while he'd known some action would be taken to stop the bloodshed, he was curious to see what they'd do.

"I head up an International Police Task Force which includes all member nations. I am Lind. L. Tailor,  a mundane otherwise known as L."

Light shot a confused look at the TV, gently running his fingers through Noir's feathers.  _"Who is this guy? He's a mundane? Why don't I believe that?"_

"People around the world are being murdered by a serial killer. I consider this crime to be the most atrocious act of murder in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira, I will hunt you down. I will find you."

Ryuk hummed thoughtfully, "He seems certain he'll find you."

Light scoffed, leaning back in his chair. "That fool. He'll never find me, and as long as the police never find it, I can't be convicted."

“Kira, I've got a pretty good idea of what your motivation might be, and I can guess what you hope to achieve, but what you are doing right now is  _evil_."

Shocked, Light turned to his spirit guide. "Noir, is he right? Is what I'm doing evil?" Noir turned and began preening the hair of his charge, radiating warmth at the younger male. "No... No, I'm protecting my tribe. Rot runs through the members of my tribe and to cure it I need to remove its source." Light glared at the TV screen, growling lowly in his throat.  _"Who does this guy think he is?! He's a mundane! He could never understand my drive to_ **_protect my tribe_ ** _!"_ Still growling, Light turned back to his spirit guide. "Noir? Has this man hurt my tribe? Does he deserve to be judged?!"

Noir turned to look at the monitor. He studied it carefully for a few moments before bobbing his head in a clear nod. The raven returned to his preening.

A malicious smile crossed over Light's face. This man had hurt his tribe and maligned his alias across the world. It was time for his to face justice.

Wasting no time, the Alpha Guide scribbled the name, Lind. L. Tailor across the open page of the Death Note.Forty seconds later, two men in black suits and sunglasses carried the dead man off stage. Leaning back, Light smiled maliciously, another threat to the tribe had been dealt with.

Suddenly, a large Gothic 'L' covered the TV monitor. "...I had to test this just in case, but I-I never thought it'd actually happen," the robotic voice distortion did nothing to hid the speaker's disbelief. "Kira, it seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it.”

“Listen to me, Kira. If you did indeed kill Lind. L. Tailor, the man who you just saw die on television, I should tell you he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today. _That was not me._ The police arrested him in absolute secrecy. It appears that even you do not have access to information about these types of criminals."

Ryuk laughed. "He got you there."

"But I assure you, L is real. I do exist. Now try to kill me!"

Light stared at the TV. Noir had known that Lind. L. Tailor was a criminal, and that's why he gave his approval. L had set up bait, and he had fallen into like a lamb to the slaughter.

"Well Kira, it seems that you can't kill me after all."

Ryuk laughed.

"So there are some people you can't kill. You've given me a useful hint. Let me return the favor. I'll tell you something that I think you'll find interesting. Truth is, we are only broadcasting in the Kanto region of Japan. We had planned to broadcast this around the world till we found you, but it looks like that won't be necessary. I now know where you are."

Ryuk chuckled, shoulders rising and falling. "This L guy is pretty good."

"The police treated your first killing as an unrelated incident, but your first killing was in Shinjuku. His crimes were by far the least serious. Furthermore his crime was only ever reported inside Japan. I used that information to deduce that you are in Japan, and your first victim was little more than an experiment. Which means you haven't been killing for very long."

Light's eyes widened even further. So much information was given away by killing this one man. He could be found.

"To be completely honest, I never expected for things to go this well. It won't be long before I find you and sentence you to death. Naturally, I've very curious to how you're committing these murders, but I don't mind waiting a little longer. You can answer all my questions when I catch you. Let's meet again soon, Kira."

The TV screen went back to static as regular programming was resumed.

Light sighed mentally and put his head in his hands, trying to think. L had truly outmaneuvered him. After being so successful at hiding his true self, Light had almost forgotten how it felt to be out played. This man...this L, was definitely a worthy opponent. He deliberately ignored the part of his mind that considered the man possibly worthy of mating with.

Sentinel, Guide, or mundane, this man had earned his attention.

With him involved, things would be interesting.  _"Interesting. I accept your challenge, L."_

For the first time in a while, Light was excited.


	3. The FBI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't be stupid, that's risky. If it comes to that, I'll take care of it," Raye stated lowly, eyes locked on the hijacker.  
> Raye watched Light bend down and begin to write a note. "It's ok, we don't have to pass notes back and forth. As long as we keep it down, he won't be able to hear our voices. He's not a sentinel."  
> Light crumpled up the paper and slid it back into his jacket pocket. The suspicious look Light sent him made Raye's instincts cringe. Guides should never fear a Sentinel.  
> "Do you have any proof that you're not his accomplice?" The younger male asked quietly, eyes accusing. "Why should we trust you?"  
> Raye was shocked. His sentinel instincts roared at the implication that he could ever endanger the tribe by helping out this lowlife of a man hijack the bus. And yet, he knew that Light had no real reason to trust him.  
> Reaching into his pocket, he passed the younger male his credentials. "Here's my proof. Take a look."  
> Light double-checked his shields before grabbing the badge.  
> "FBI? I see... Raye Penber."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3. Un-beta'd. Mistakes are my own.

Raye Penber, the FBI Agent in charge of looking into the Japanese Police Force and their families watched his target, Light Yagami, meet up with another young girl from his school. The two are smiling. Judging by the way the girl latches onto his mark's arm, they're going on some sort of date.

The rank seven Sentinel hid behind a staircase, and carefully focused his senses to listen in on their conversation. His Guide was back at the hotel room preparing for the meet and greet with her parents later that night.

He grabbed his pocket notebook.  _"During the week, he goes to school and cram school at night. Dates on his day off. A normal kid. Just a normal senior in high school. No cause for suspicion."_

The bus to SpaceLand pulled up. It seemed the two high-schoolers were going there for their date.  _"At any rate, I'll be done with my surveillance today, and that will be it,"_ Raye thought, stowing his notebook to board the bus after them.

Taking a seat, he tried to relax. The ride promised lots of boring high school small talk, but for some reason his senses kept focusing in on the target. On several instances, his sentinel instincts urged him to tune in more on Light's conversation. The unnatural focus reminded him of when he first imprinted on Naomi in Los Angeles, but that couldn't be possible. Nothing in Light's file said anything about him being a guide. An unbonded guide, even low level, would never accept the advances of a mundane like his schoolmate and current date, Yuri.

A few minutes later, the sound of a racking gun brought him back to reality.

At the front of the bus, a man in a brown jacket and black jeans held the bus driver under gun point. "Stay in your seats unless you want to die!"

Raye's eyes widened,  _"A bus jacking?! You've got to be kidding me."_

The man turned back towards the passengers. "Everybody shut up! If anybody moves I'm putting a bullet in their head.

As the hijacker negotiated with SpaceLand, Raye wrestled with his instincts. Every part of him wanted to go up  and confront the crazy mundane in order to divert his attention from the innocent passengers and his guide-not-guide target. His anger spiked and the need to bash the criminal's head in grew larger and larger. A sub-vocal growl escaped him, and mentally, he started panicking slightly.

Logically he knew that such an action would likely result in most of their deaths, but it was like his instincts were overruling his conscious mind. It was like that time he went feral after Naomi was taken by Beyond Birthday, but that couldn't be. Light wasn't his guide!

Raye locked his jaw tightly. His instincts were gaining control.

The near inaudible sound of paper drew his attention back to the two students. His eyes widened. Light was going to try and take the hijacker's gun away when he came back here. His instincts screamed at him. His growl raised up a few notches.

Before him, Light tensed, turning his head back slightly.

Raye noted the movement with all the precision of a Sentinel on the verge of going feral. "Don't be stupid, that's risky. If it comes to that, I'll take care of it," he stated lowly, eyes locked on the hijacker to ensure the male couldn't hear them.

Raye watched Light bend down and begin to write a note. "It's ok, we don't have to pass notes back and forth. As long as we keep it down, he won't be able to hear our voices over the sound of the engine. He's not a sentinel."

Light crumpled up the paper and slid it back into his jacket pocket. The suspicious look Light sent him made his instincts cringe. Guides should never fear a Sentinel.

"Do you have any proof that you're not his accomplice?" The younger male asked quietly, eyes accusing. "Why should we trust you?"

"A-- Accomplice?" Light's date asked nervously.

"Yeah, I've read about this before. The first hijacker comes in like he's working alone. Meanwhile, a second one pretends to be a hostage and stays in the very back in case something goes wrong."

Raye was shocked. His sentinel instincts roared at the implication that he could ever endanger the tribe by helping out this lowlife of a man hijack the bus. And yet, at the same time, he knew that Light had no real reason to trust him.

Raye swallowed hard.  _"I-- I have no choice. I'm sure Light Yagami isn't Kira. If he was, he could just kill this guy with a heart attack."_

Reaching into his pocket, he passed the younger male his credentials. "Here's my proof. Take a look."

Light double-checked his shields before grabbing the badge. If he'd known that his tail was a Sentinel, he'd never have tried this stunt to get more information. A flash of concern shot through him as he spied Noir settle on the seat across from them.

Turning his attention back to the situation at hand, the young Alpha Prime flipped open the badge,  _"FBI? I see. L needed an outsider so he got the FBI to investigate anyone connected to the Japanese police. Mmm... Raye Penber,"_

Light studied the badge thoroughly, taking note of a small 'S7' hidden in the corner of the ID. His eyes widened.  _"Shit! He's an Alpha!"_ Keeping his status from the agent was going to be harder than he thought.

"You're a Sentinel," Light stated, discretely passed the credentials back to Raye.

Raye nodded, relaxing as Light's scent gained a hint of trust.

"I'll trust you, and I guess for the time being I won't ask what an FBI Agent is doing on the bus in the first place. Do you have a gun?"

"Yeah, I've got one."

Light's eyes narrowed slightly. "So if it comes down to it, I can rely on you right?"

Raye's internal sentinel nearly did a happy dance. The guide-not-guide wanted to rely on him. "Yes."

The hijacker began to yell at elderly lady near the front. He screamed at her to shut up and be quite.

Raye started in surprise.  _"That's right. This guy... his face was all over the news a couple of days ago. Some junkie who tried to rob a bank and ended up killing three people before he got away. He's extremely dangerous."_

A few seconds later, Raye listened to the sound of dropping paper with muted horror. The note from before had fallen out of Light's pocket. The guide-not-guide had reached down to grab it, only to draw attention with a strained grunt as he stretched.

"Don't move you little punk! What the hell is that?!"

Raye nearly jumped out of his seat when the hijacker pointed his gun at Light. Only the threat of the guide-not-guide getting shot kept him from moving.

"Eh, smartass! You guys were planning something back here weren't ya?!"

The hijacker bent down and grabbed the note. Looking down, he scoffed. "Plans for a date, huh? Stupid, kid." The man turned around and stomped back towards the front of the bus.

Raye sighed in relief. They got lucky. If the hijacker had seen Light's note from before, he'll find out that Light was planning to jump him and take his gun away.

The Alpha Sentinel uncoiled his muscles. It was only a matter of time before the hijacker got what he wanted and they were all free to go.

Minutes later, the hijacker began breathing erratically. The scent of the man's fear felt like a flood to Raye's dialed up sense of smell.

"H-Hey! W-Who the hell are y-you?!" The hijacker pointed his gun at the back window. "Y-You in the v-very back! What do you think you're doing?!"

The man's arm shook with fear. "Don't-- Don't mess with me!" he warned, voice hard despite the fear. "How long have you been hiding back there?!"

Ryuk looked at the junkie like was insane. "What's this? You're talking to me?" The shinigami took a step forward. "So you mean you can actually see my right now?"

The hijacker, took a step back. "S-Stay there you! You-- K--Keep away from me, you freak!"

The hijackers hands shook harder.

Raye could almost taste the man's fear it was so potent.  _"This isn't good, he's hallucinating."_

The FBI Agent leaned forward behind his seat. "Everyone! Get down!"

Several passengers cried out, crouching down in their seats as far as possible.

"Oh, I get it." Ryuk grinned, "That little note that Light  _accidentally_  dropped, was actually torn from the pages of the Death Note itself. Since he tricked this guy into touching the paper, he's the only other one on the bus who can see me."

His human was so smart.

Ryuk took another few steps forward.

"Get away!!!"

Crack. Crack.

"Sorry pal," Ryuk watched as the bullet holes in his chest closed over immediately, "I'm a shinigami so I'm afraid your bullets aren't going to kill me."

The hijacker started yelling continuously, firing at will towards the rear window of the bus.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack. Crack.

The back window shattered.

Crack.

Crack.

Ryuk stood there, watching the junkie continue to scream.

Click.

Click.

Click. Click.

The hijacker continued to try and fire an empty gun.

"Anyone who touches the Death Note can see me. I need to stay until the Death Note is finished or I see you die... whichever comes first. And the shinigami can't die by being shot. Well he is the top ranked student in the country. I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Ryuk laughed, "He even got the guy investigating him to willing give up his name."

Realizing that he had no way to get away, the hijacker grabbed the bus driver. "Stop the bus! Let me off!!"

Raye jumped forward, trying to reach the hallucinating mundane.

The man jumped out as the bus screeched to a halt. He looked around frantically only to see the bright headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

Seconds later, a meaty thud joined the sound of squealing brakes as the hijacker rolled across the pavement.

Raye stood frozen at the sight. Distantly he registered Light calling the police, asking for an ambulance.

Rushing off the bus, the Sentinel rushed towards the still form and breathed a sigh of relief. He was still alive.

Back on the bus, Light sighed as the police told him to stay on the line,  _"Everything went just as I planned,"_ he checked his watch again.

_"Kiichiro Osoreda. Accidental death... boards the 11:31 Space Land bound bus near the eastern end of the park holding a loaded gun, and attempts to hijack the bus. Sees a horrific phantom and spends all available bullets trying to kill it. At exactly 11:45 he is struck by a car. Three hours and twenty two minutes later, he dies on the operating table due to internal injuries."_

Light looked out at the Sentinel assigned to watch him,  _"The Death Note never fails."_

The honors student turned back to his date, "Can you stay on the line with them? I want to go see if I can help." At her nod, Light makes his way outside.

"How is he?"

Raye refused to remove his eyes from the prone hijacker's form. While the man no longer had a gun, he could still hurt the guide-not-guide. Even now, his inner sentinel was extremely unhappy that Light was so close to a potential danger.

"Alive," he stated gruffly, standing from his crouched position. Without thinking about it, he shifted slightly, putting himself between Light and the injured man.

Light's eyes narrowed.

Above them, Raye heard what sounded like a raven screeching. A black form flashed at the edges of his vision.

He looked around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Giving up, he turned back to his target. Holding out an arm, he walked them both back towards the bus. A crowd was starting to form around the hijacker.

"Look..." Raye sighed, slowing to a stop, "...I came to Japan as part of a secret investigation, so the local police can't find out that... um... that I..."

Light took a moment to consider the mans words. "I understand, I promise I won't tell anyone that you were here, that includes my father."

Raye looked at Light, shocked. The younger male had agreed so easily. He stood there for a few moments contemplating, only to hear sirens in the distances.

"Well, then... please excuse me."

Ignoring all of his instincts to stay and protect Light, Raye ran towards the waiting line of backed up traffic. No matter how much he wanted to stay, the investigation into Kira's link to the Police was more important than protecting Light when the danger was already over.

Mentally, he groaned. Reporting to L was going to take  _forever_. The detective wouldn't be happy that he'd had to make contact with his target.

The Sentinel slowed his stride back to a walk. L would also be very interested in hearing about Light's weird effect on his Sentinel instincts. He hummed, eyes locked on the ground before him.

_"Maybe, I should bring Naomi along. She's worked with L before, and as my guide, she might be able to interpret the sensations in a different way than I would. Not to mention be able to detect and traces of another guide if that's what Light actually is."_

Raye winced. His guide was going to be  _unbearable_  after this. Only he could get caught up in a bus-jacking on the one day he was away from his guide.

Sighing heavily, he walked into the lobby of their hotel. He nearly swore as a rush of concern radiated from her end of the bond.

She already knew something had happened.

Pressing the button, he waited for the elevator to open on the correct floor.

It was time to go face the music.


	4. Sending a Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light looked up at the ceiling, “I can’t kill him.”  
> “Ehh?” Ryuk grabbed another apple from the pile, “Why not? You have his identity.”  
> Light ran his fingers through Noir’s feathers gently. “He’s a bonded Alpha Sentinel.” The Alpha Guide sighed again. Killing a Sentinel would guarantee a descent into dormancy. Plus, despite the threat presented by the Agent to Kira, the man posed no threat to the tribe as a whole. Even now, his instincts balked at the thought of his death.  
> “Ah… I see…” Ryuk finished off the core of his apple with relish. “You can’t kill him without a direct threat on your life. Even then, you risk going dormant if you kill him for the wrong reasons.”  
> Light let his head fall back onto the pillow roughly. “Not being able to kill Penber is bad, yes, but now all the FBI Agents investigating the NPA are off limits as well."  
> Removing his fingers from Noir’s feathers, Light rose, stretching his limbs. “In the end, I’m going to have to find another way to create a rift between the Police and L. In the meantime, I think that I’ll use some of those inmates I’ve been keeping alive to play around with L a little more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4. unbeta-ed. Mistakes are my own. If anyone wants me to post the full image of the timeline for this chapter just let me know through a comment. Thanks.

**December 20th, 2003**

Light collapsed onto his bed with a sigh. His plan had been perfectly executed, and yet… he had nothing to show for it other than learning exactly who was investigating the NPA.

Noir soared through the bedroom wall, settling next to Light with low croak.

Ryuk looked up from the basket of apples on the desk. “What’s wrong, Light? I thought the whole point of the bus-jacking was to get the name of that investigator. Normally you’d be writing his name in the Death Note by now along with all the other criminals you decided to kill today.”

Light looked up at the ceiling, “I can’t kill him.”

“Ehh?” Ryuk grabbed another apple from the pile, “Why not? You have his identity.”

Light ran his fingers through Noir’s feathers gently. “He’s a bonded Alpha Sentinel.” The Alpha Guide sighed again. Killing a Sentinel would guarantee a descent into dormancy. Plus, despite the threat presented by the Agent to Kira, the man posed no threat to the tribe as a whole. Even now, his instincts balked at the thought of his death.

“Ah… I see…” Ryuk finished off the core of his apple with relish. “You can’t kill him without a direct threat on your life. Even then, you risk going dormant if you kill him for the wrong reasons.”

Light let his head fall back onto the pillow roughly. “Not being able to kill Penber is bad, yes, but now all the FBI Agents investigating the NPA are off limits as well. Originally, my plan was to use Agent Penber’s death to gain access to an FBI file with the names and photos of all the other agents in Japan. However, now that I know that Agent Penber can’t be killed, there will always be someone who could reveal my knowledge of the FBI’s presence in Japan, and link me to the deaths of the other Agents. No, killing the other FBI Agents would be like signing my own death warrant.”

Removing his fingers from Noir’s feathers, Light rose, stretching his limbs. “In the end, I’m going to have to find another way to create a rift between the Police and L.”

Light sat down at his desk, removing the Death Note from its hiding place.

Ryuk hovered over his shoulder. “I thought you just said you weren’t going to use the Death Note on that Agent.”

“I’m not.” Light turned on the TV. “While Agent Penber and the FBI may be off limits, there are others that meet my requirements. Besides,” he set his pencil to the paper, “taking any action right now towards them would just draw suspicion to myself.” Light smirked in amusement, “In the meantime, I think that I’ll use some of those inmates I’ve been keeping alive to play around with L a little more.

**Dec. 31, 2003**

Soichiro Yagami stared at the NPA’s main headquarters in sorrow.

Four days ago, Kira took the lives of twelve Police Officers, a mix of Detectives and Beat Cops; all members of the Kira Task Force. During their daily shift change debrief, all twelve officers began behaving strangely. It was like something was controlling them.

His hands shook in anger.

The first officer wrote a letter on the black board in the front of the room then promptly died of a heart attack.  While the other was still choking, the next officer wrote another letter, and also suffered a heart attack. By the time the rest of them had noticed a pattern, five more had died. It was horrifying.

A long breath escaped the Chief as he forcibly relaxed his hands.

L had encouraged a few officers to try and save the ninth victim, but the man threw them off like rag dolls before writing his letter and collapsing. They still tried to save the rest, but after each failure, more and more hope died in the remaining officers. After the twelfth fell to the ground, the rest of them wore faces as long as China’s Great Wall. On the board behind them, Kira’s message hung eerily.

 

i h B           e T I           t s           e F n x

 

Soichiro swallowed hard.

Twelve officers had died, all for a message. The entire Kira Task Force was given the rest of the day off to grieve. Moral dropped to an all-time low.

Two days later, they decoded the message.

 

T h e           F B I           i s           n e x t

 

Soichiro forced down the bile in his throat.

Naturally, everyone on the Kira Task Force, had been horrified to find out that they were being investigated by the FBI on L’s orders. On top of that, Kira had killed twelve of their own in order to get a message to L. As a result, most of the force now resented L for the deaths of their friends. They were angry that they were risking their lives to catch Kira, and yet L remained safely behind a computer screen. By the end of the day, only five members of the Kira Task Force remained.

As a show of faith, L invited them to meet him in person at a hotel.

Soichiro studied each of the Kira Task Force members carefully. All held a steely resolve in their hearts.

“Let’s go.”

An hour later, each of the men stared.

The younger man with black hair rubbed one foot against the other. His long sleeved shirt and gray pants seemed more suited towards a lounging college student than the World’s Greatest Detective. “I am L.”

“Yagami, of the NPA.”

“Um, I’m Matsuda.”

“I’m Aizawa.”

“Mogi.”

“Ukita.”

L gazed at them with a frown. Lifting his hand, he emulated a gun with his fingers. “Bang!”

All five police detectives stared at him in shock.

L groaned, “If I were Kira, all five of you would be dead,” he turned towards the other room, “Kira needs a face and a name to commit murder, but I’m sure you’ve already figured out that much. Please do not give out your name so carelessly. Instead, let’s value our lives.”

Matsuda turned towards the Chief. “I knew he needed a face to kill, but I’ve heard nothing about him needing a name.”

“There’s no way to verify if it’s related, but criminals whose names were never released or were spelled wrong in the media were never targeted. It was briefly mentioned in one of our meetings.”

L’s voice echoed from the other room. “That’s enough small talk. Please come this way. Leave your cell phones and any other communication devices on the table right there.”

Aizawa stepped forward angrily, “What? Do you think we’re going to use them to leak classified information?!”

L sat down in one of the arm chairs with a small pot of tea. “No, I just find them distracting. I can’t stand it when someone’s phone goes off while I’m trying to talk. Please make yourself at home.”

They all sat down carefully trying not to stare at L’s odd way of sitting.

“First of all, no one is to take notes on anything we say in these meetings. That means, when we leave headquarters, any information we need is committed to memory.” L watched them carefully, “And from now on I’m going to have to ask that you stop calling me L. It’s Ryuzaki now.”

L hummed. The tea needed a little more sugar.

“Uh… Ryuzaki… if we know that he needs a name and a face to kill. Couldn’t we cut down on the number of victims by keeping criminals names out of the media?”

L stirred his tea. “No, doing that would only put the general public at risk.”

“Why?”

The spoon clinked loudly against the china cup.

“Kira is childish and he hates to lose. Earlier on in the investigation, I tried to provoke Kira with that broadcast. Up until then, we thought that Kira would only go after criminals, but as we all witnessed, Kira didn’t hesitate to kill my stand in. Also, as soon as I said he was in the Kanto region, he made sure his next victims came from within Japan as if to say, ‘And what are you going to do about it?’.”

L took another sip of his tea. “He’s met each of my challenges head on and never missed a chance to return the favor. Now, what do you think would happen if we tried to use media restrictions to hide criminals from someone like that?”

L’s voice turned whiney and childish, “If you chose to with-hold the names of your worst criminals, I’ll kill petty criminals or the innocent. I’m holding the whole world hostage so who’s it going to be?”

His voice turned dark, “I’m not the evil one here. But all those who oppose me, by hiding criminals, you are truly evil.”

L refilled his tea. “In any case, let me tell you the rest of my thoughts on the Kira case.”

The five policemen nodded, expressions grim.

“Kira works alone. He had access to all our classified information. We know he needs a name and a face to kill, and to some extent, he can control a victim’s time of death and their actions before dying. Please keep that in mind and listen carefully.”

L grabbed a marker off the table. “On December 14th, twelve FBI Agents entered Japan. Now on December 19th, Kira conducts experiments, manipulating his victim’s actions before they die. Logically, in these five days, Kira somehow became aware of the FBI’s presence and felt threatened.” L lifted his hand to reveal a small diagram.

“Now, we all know that on December 27th,  twelve Police Officers were killed to deliver the message, ‘The FBI is next’. So sometime between the 19th and the 27th Kira discovered their identities. However, the fact that he chose to send a message at all is very interesting. After all, killing the FBI Agents directly would have removed the problem faster than relying on the police to decode a message, and hoping that the FBI will halt the investigation. So,” L drew another arrow between the 19th and the 27th, “…sometime within this period, Kira discovers that he can’t kill the FBI.”

L tapped his finger against his chin rhythmically, “Considering that Kira has been able to kill anyone using their name and face, it stands to reason that either he can’t get access to the names and faces of the Agents, or…” L looks up at five of them, triumphantly, “somehow the FBI is linked to Kira’s real identity and going after them directly would reveal a connection between the two.”

“Now, Kira waited eight days to kill those police officers, so there would be no timeline linking him to their deaths. I suspect Kira had to be one of the people investigated by the FBI between the 14th and the 19th of December.”

L reached down and grabbed a stack of papers from under the table. “These are files from the FBI. They may contain information you might find useful. For obvious reasons you’re not allowed to take these out of this room, but—”

“Amazing!” Matsuda exclaimed, “There may only be five of us, but this much information means we’ll be able to cover a lot of ground!”

Mogi leaned forward. “We’ll split into two teams, one to look at the FBI investigations, and the other to look at who had access to each of the police officers that were killed.”

L’s expression turned sour as they continued to discuss the case. He cleared his throat, “Does anyone have any questions?”

“Actually, I do,” Chief Yagami replied, “I couldn’t help but notice that this is a Sentinel-friendly room. Are you a Sentinel, L?”

L stared at the Chief for a few long moments, “Yes, I am.”

Soiichiro hummed softly. “Judging by the absence of a guide, you aren’t bonded. Will you need to me to ask one of our guides to join the Task Force?”

“No,” L grabbed his near empty teacup, “Despite being an un-bonded Alpha Prime, I am able to function in everyday life without a guide beside me. In the event of any zones, Watari is an experienced Conservator, and he has brought me out of zones before. However,” L looked each of them in the eye, “if I do zone, do not approach me physically. As you can see,” he waived his hand towards the windowsill, revealing a huge gray wolf, “my spirit animal is quite large, and as a rule, Balthazar tends to be quite overprotective.”

The five could only nod silently, returning to work with only a few lingering glances.

The next five days were some of the busiest for the Task Force. Files needed to be read and shared, videos watched, and information collected and shared. Slowly but surely the possible suspects dwindled.

Finally, late on January 8th, they reconvened with Balthazar prowling around the room. All of them carried large bags beneath their eyes.

“It seems that only two of the families being investigated during the 14th and the 19th could have had contact with all twelve of the victims,” L said, drinking from the cup of tea Watari, his partner, set down on the table.

The others looked at each other curiously.

“Very well. Who are these two families?” The Police Chief asked, too tired to wait L out.

“Deputy Director Kitamura and his family met at the station on December 25th. The Directors family stayed in the station for about an hour while they waited while the Director himself would have known each of the officers from the beginning. Also,” L looked directly at the head of the Task Force, “Detective Superintendent Yagami’s family visited the station on the 20th of December. The mother and daughter brought food up to the Superintendent and spent 30 minutes in contact with each of the officers in question while handing out food. The detective’s son, Light, spent the rest of the afternoon helping out the Sentinel and Guide Division, something he has done before though not recently.”

L’s gaze returned to the teacup. “At this point in the investigation, I would like to place surveillance cameras and wire taps throughout both households.”

Silence reigned in the room.

Finally, Chief Yagami sighed loudly, “Ryuzaki, what are the odds that Kira is in one of those households?”

L tapped his finger against his chin. “Ten…? No—five percent.”

Matsuda went to argue with L, but a low rumbling growl from Balthazar stopped him.

The Chief turned to face his angry subordinate. “Of all the people we’ve investigated so far, not one of them seemed even the least bit suspicious. If there’s even a one percent chance that they could be Kira, we can’t afford to ignore it.” He turned back to L with resignation, “I don’t have to tell you how offended I am to learn that my family is under suspicion. Having said that, just go ahead with it.”

The rest of the task force members gasped in shock, but the Chief kept his eyes firmly on L. “And make sure you install them everywhere. I don’t want any blind spots in the house, not even the bathroom.”

“Chief!”

L nodded, “Thank you very much. That was my intention.” Turning to Watari, L waved the older male into motion. “As a curtesy to the Chief and his family, only he and I will conduct surveillance on their home. Watari, you may begin as soon as the Chief gives you a window for entry.”

Turning away from the others, L scratched Balthasar’s ears. Hopefully, the surveillance would turn up something concrete.


End file.
